Women globally are underrepresented among the research, public health and political decision-making entities responding to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Women represent just 20 per cent of the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee on COVID-19 and under 25 per cent of national COVID-19 response committees across 30 countries.169 A study of gender representation in COVID-19-related news media globally found that in both high-income and resource-limited settings, women commentators were featured in only a quarter or fewer of all COVID-19-related news reports, despite representing nearly 90 percent of the caregiving task force.170 Similar trends are observed in the Arab States region,171 where women comprise the majority of the frontline health care and informal caregiver workforces,172 yet are underrepresented in COVID-related decision-making.